Truer words were never spoken.

Rodriguez is talking himself out of New York, talking himself out of adulation, talking himself into a corner from which he will never escape, even if he hits 800 home runs.

I almost felt sorry for him last October after the Yankees were eliminated and manager Joe Torre humiliated him by batting him eighth in the final game against the Tigers.

No more. Never again.

A-Rod should be the anti-Bonds, the darling of baseball fans everywhere. But it''s not going to happen as long as he remains his soap-opera self, creating drama when there is none.

Once and for all, he needs to shut up and play.

What do you think?

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i''m not very educated on the subject, [okay, not educated one bit) so can you tell me what is going on?

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It''s a do-or-die situation," Rodriguez said. "Either New York is going to kick me out of New York this year, say, ''I''ve had enough of this guy, get him the heck out of here,'' ... Or New York is going to say, "Hey, we won a world championship, you had a big year, you were a part of it and we want you back.''"

What is this, an American Idol phone-in? The choice is Rodriguez''s and Rodriguez''s alone.

No other player is insecure enough to utter such nonsense. No other player would even hint that the public''s reaction would influence his choice of teams.

Rodriguez quickly recognized the folly of his words, attempting to backtrack when speaking with Yankees beat reporters Tuesday night.

But his explanation bordered on absurd.

"You heard some of those questionsx that was an absolute dogfight for 15 minutes," Rodriguez said. "I was just basically doing the best I can. There were some pretty crazy questions. Fifteen minutes felt like an hour, being under the gun there."

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Well, those interviews can be quite presured and tense for people, expesicaly people who don''t have any interview training or experiance. Written interviews are much easier, you can think about what you say before you say it.

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Well, too often he sounds dumb and stupid. A-Rod generally is available to the media. He understands the risks of his cooperation. "If you say the truth, you're a jerk," he once told me. "If you're political, you're a phony." Yet he shows none of the media savvy exhibited by his teammate, Derek Jeter, who is accommodating but as dull as Dic.k Cheney.

He needs to shut up already.

His game should do the talking.

His talking is obscuring his game.

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You met him?

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A-Rod?

Yes.

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So he is generally well-self-sustained with the media? Hmm, it seems like he is a little too friendly with the media.

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But A-Rod can''t stay on message. If he were a politician, he would be a handler''s worst nightmare. Surely he gets advicex from his wifex from his agent, Scott Borasx maybe even from teammates. But he''s a back-page quote waiting to happen.

A-Rod offended Derek Jeter in a 2001 article in Esquire magazine, permanently damaging their friendship. He boasted about his 6 a.m. workouts and referred to his former Rangers teammates as "24 kids" after getting traded to the Yankees in ''04.

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Are you sure you are nine?

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